ELSE BREMS - Naxos Music Library

Else Brems's interest in sacred music also embraced
the rich fund of Danish hymns. She was herself a
practicing Christian, md was often asked to sing Danish
hymns at the many recitals she gave in churchesi the
hymns recorded here demonstrate clearly whyl her
inlerpretations had something mysterious. some
inexplicable element in them. The theatre director John
Price used to say that she had a direct line to God
Almighty ! On the death ofQueenAlexandrine in I 952,
she was asked by Radio Denmark to sing the beautiful
"In Still Silence Man Must Tmy" by Hans Adolph
Brorson, the finest poet of the Danish Evangelical
movement. This song, set to music by the Romantic
composer A.PBerggreen, was recorded and very soon
became a classic (II,20). Else Brems held a prominent
position in Danish musical life, and consequently was
asked to perfom at public events and at many chmity
mangements, not least in connection with Christmas
festivities. As a souvenir of one such occasion we
include here N.F.S.Grundtvig's and Berggreen's "Hail
Welcome Again God's Angels Small", to the stately
accompaniment of the Koppel String Quanet (II,21).
The musicologist Karl Clausen, who has worked
extensively on the subject ofthe Danish song, collected
and edited a series of texts by Brorson set to popular
tunes and recorded on tape by people for whom they
were part of their spiritual inheritance. Some of these
were recorded by Radio Denmmk, sung by Else Brems.
By fimly shutting out the operatic resources of her
voice she succeeds in penetrating into the very being
of these simple songs which have caught their inspiration
from The Song of Songs (II,22&23). Despite the
highly praised nobility ofher bearing, Else Brems had
a streak of unassuming homeliness in her character.
This finds expression in the simple stanzaic ballads and
songs which were recorded by Radio Denmrk as goodnight
songs in the 50s. Thanks to a private Else Brems-
enthusiast. we possess some fine recordings of these
songs, the most well-known of which is the folk song
about unrequited love "Once on a Saturday Evening".
"How can one gather roses where roses will not grow"
has become almost proverbial (II,24).Also included here
is an interpretation of a Carl Nielsen evening song "l
Go to Sleep without a Feil", presumably the only one
which has withstood the ravages of time (II,25). The
"Quiet Hearl the Sun Goes Down" is from the collection
of Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub songs performed for
the first time by Else Brems's father. The simplicity and
genuine feeling of this text by the Jutland poet Jeppe
Aakjer here find supreme expression (II,26). This musical
portrait of Else Brems is rounded off by the lTthcentury,
anonymous night watchmm's verses (II,27).
Else Brems, The Artist.
The good fairies had endowed her in her cradle with
musicality, a fine voice, beauty, imagination, and temperament.
She possessed the aura which emanates tiom
the great artist, and she became the most celebrated
Danish mezzo-soprano of the 20th century. As a private
person she was modest, almost self-effacing. Her
working life was characterized by humility, and an
unflagging striving towilds artistic perfection. She was
loved and respected by her colleagues.
Her voice was a well-focused, smooth, lyrical mezzo
with a special timbre ofits own, but its range was never
tully developed despite her very thorough training. The
reason for this may perhaps be looked for in her rather
introvert personality which did not accord with the
extroverl "here-I-am" attitude. often connected with the
extremely high registel Thus the grild mezzo parts in
Verdi, Wagner, and Strauss were outside her domain,
which is evident from her recording of a duet from 1l
Trovatore with Stefan Islandi. Her voice had a soft,
lyrical timbre, and she wisely refrained from tackling